DANGER DANGER: DANGER DANGER LP (1st s.t debut) 1989 Def Leppard / Bon Jovi. Check “Bang Bang”, “Naughty Naughty” videos + whole album (audio)

Description

Danger Danger was formed in 1987 by former Hotshot members lead vocalist Mike Pont, bassist Bruno Ravel, and drummer Steve West. This line-up also featured then future Hotshot guitarist Al Pitrelli and former Get With It keyboardist Kasey Smith. Mike Pont later left the band and was replaced by Ted Poley, who previously played in the band Prophet as drummer, and sometimes lead vocalist.  They made another attempt at recording a demo, and this time it landed them a recording contract with Epic Records. In 1988, Pitrelli left Danger Danger.
In 1989, Saraya guitarist Tony “”Bruno”” Rey joined briefly and played on part of their debut album, before returning to his previous band. Andy Timmons replaced him and played on the rest of their debut album, which was released in the same year. The album spawned two hits with  Naughty Naughty and  Bang Bang  with the former gaining a spot in MTV s Headbangers Ball. The band went on tour opening for KISS, Alice Cooper, Extreme and Warrant.

SAMPLES:  www.allmusic.com/album/danger-danger-mw0000200833

Danger Danger is keyboard infested, 80’s, radio rock with a heavy metal sheen and image. The band has chops and can write a good, memorable pop hook. While the song writing for this type of 80’s rock is simplistic and anthemic, it seems that all these bands had at least one shredder who could pull off a good solo in an instant. It seems that Danger Danger had two shredders. However, as might be expected from this type of music, the ballads seem to be the focus. The theme is good looks, pop hooks, and partying all night long. What else could you infer from song titles like “”Bang Bang””, “”Live It Up”” and “”Turn It Up.”” For an 80 melodic rock album, this one is rather great a la Def Leppard “”Hysteria”” or even Bon Jovi.

Track listing:
“”Naughty Naughty”” – 4:50
“”Under The Gun”” – 4:39
“”Saturday Nite”” – 4:17
“”Don’t Walk Away”” – 4:56
“”Bang Bang”” – 3:56
“”Rock America”” – 4:54
“”Boys Will Be Boys”” – 4:58
“”One Step From Paradise”” – 4:47
“”Feels Like Love”” – 4:52
“”Turn It On”” – 3:40
“”Live It Up”” – 3:54
All songs written by B.Ravel/S.West

Musicians:
Ted Poley – vocals
Tony “”Bruno”” Rey – guitar
Andy Timmons – guitar
Bruno Ravel – bass guitar
Steve West – drums
Kasey Smith – keyboard

Danger Danger arrived on the scene late in the 80’s with their self titled debut album, mixing AOR with bombastic pop metal. Catchy hooks and sugary voice of singer Ted Poley gave them some exposure at the tail end of the glam metal movement. They even managed to enter the Billboard Top 100 and gain MTV airplay. Songs like “Naughty Naughty”, “Bang Bang”, “Under the Gun” are all excellent pieces of melodic hair metal, while “Don’t Walk Away” is more than a solid power ballad. With “One Step From Paradise”, the band took a stab at pure AOR. Hard Rock/Metal purist will point that the band lacks an edge, that some earlier glam metal bands had and they would be right, but the melodies and sheer catchiness of songs are hard to resist, making this debut an excellent slice of pop metal.

New York, New York, says the famous song. So good they named it twice. Well, if that sort of shtick was good enough for ol’ Blue eyes then it was certainly good enough for late ’80s New York area melodic hard rockers Danger Danger whose songs ‘Naughty, Naughty’ and ‘Bang Bang’ helped to emphasise the point perfectly.
Not that they needed to accentuate anything but the music, an impressive commodity that took then from the relative obscurity of the New Jersey bars and clubs to European stages and the wide screen appeal of MTV.
Formed in 1986, the band concentrated on forging songs and a sound that would secure them a foothold on the burgeoning melodic hard rock scene. Obscure they may have been but inexperienced they were not.
Several of the band had not only paid their dues locally but had played with or backed a number of other artists, including Talas, Joe Lynn Turner, White Lion, Michael Bolton, Saraya and Pomp AOR legends Prophet.
Fashioning memorable songs with firebrand riffs, Danger Danger were signed by the Imagine label (a division of Epic Records, headed by Industry legend Lennie Petze) and put into the studio with Lance Quin (Bon Jovi, Lita Ford).
The band’s self titled debut album “Danger Danger” instantly produced a hit single with the MTV friendly ‘Naughty Naughty’, a song that defined the band’s appeal as one of the best high-energy melodic rock bands of the era.